Sewing-machine.



Patented July l8; I899.

G. w. W lLLEY. SEWING MACHINE.

(Application filan l Feb. 23, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

.(No Model.)

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6.. w. WILLEY. SEWING MACHINE;

(Application filed Feb. 23, 1898.)

No. 628,975. Patented July l8, I899.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shem 2.

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' is similarly governed.

GEORGE \V. \VILLEY, OF ATHOL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ALMON lVILLEY, OF BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,975, dated July 18, 1899. Application filed February 23, 1898. Serial No. 671,545. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. lVILLEY, of Athol, in the county of \Vorcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presser-Foot and Needle-Bar Operating Mechanism for Sewing- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of waxthread lock-stitch sewing-machines employing a pivoted horn having a rotary or oscillating whirl and a reciprocating needle and presser-foot cooperating with the horn and its stitch-forn1ing elements or devices in forming stitches for uniting the sole and upper of a boot or shoe.

The invention has for its object, first, to provide means for automatically giving the presser-foot a throw or movement that is variable as to its starting-point, so that when it is raised it will stand at the same distance above the upper surface of the workwhether the work be thick or thin, the presser-foot rising to the same distance above the upper surface of either a thick or thin piece of work, so that the presser-foot will always remain in close proximity to the upper surface of the work whenit is raised, it being a well-known fact that heretofore the prcsser-foot has usually been given an unvarying upward throw, so that when it is raised it stands at a higher point above the upper surface of a thin piece of work than above a thick piece of work, the result being that a thin piece of work is more widely separated from the presser-foot than a thicker piece, so that the presser-foot does not act as efficiently in keeping the work in place as it does when the work is thicker.

The invention also has for its object to enable the needle to rise to a varying height and to determine the upward limit of its movement by the position of the presser-foot, so that the amount of thread pulled from the supply by the needle during its upward movement will be governed by the thickness of the work, because the position of the presser-foot Hence the length of thread pulled off for the formation of the stitch is accurately and-automatically proportioned to the thickness of the work in which the stitches are to be formed.

by the thickness of the work.

The invention also consists in certain de* tails and combinations of mechanism, all of which I will now proceed to describe.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 represents bar; c, the needle; Z), the presser-bar, and b the presser-foot These parts cooperate with the pivoted horn 0, having the usual whirl and looper, in forming stitches in the manner common to wax-thread lockstitch sewingmachines of the Keats type.

My invention relates only to means for automatically giving the presser-foot a throw variable as to its starting-point, so that it will rise the same distance above the upper surface of the work be the work thick or thin, and to means for automatically varying the limit of the upward throw of the needle without changing the limit of its downward throw, so that the needle, while always descending to the same point to cooperate with the whirl in forming the stitch, will rise to a height governed by the thickness of the work, and thus automaticallypull oif the thread required Hence I do not show a complete operative machine and do not describe the stitch-forming operation, it being sufficient to remark that the general operation of the machine is thesame as in well-known lock-stitch horn-machinesof the Keats type.

The presser-bar b is vertically reciprocated by means of a lever b which is pivoted at b to a bracket or support b and is engaged at i one end with a stud 19 which is free to slide lengthwise in the lever 12 and has aspherical enlargement engaged with a socket formed in the presser bar. The opposite end of the leverb is provided with a trundle-r0111), which bears against the under side of a cam b af- IOO fixed to a vertical driving-shaft d. The trundle-roll b is held against the cam 12 by means of aspringb, so that the rotation of said cam causes the oscillation of the lever 19 in a vertical plane, said motion being communicated to the presser-bar through the stud b the sliding motion of which permits the presserbar to move in a rectilinear direction, while the lever lfioscillates in avertical plane. The bracket or ear b is mounted to oscillate on a vertical axis, so that the lever 12 in addition to its vertical oscillation can oscillate horizontally to give the presser bar and foot lateral motions for feeding the work, as usual in machines of this class, the lever 19 being provided with a trundle-roll bibearing against the peripheryof the cam b and held against said periphery by the spring 1) said spring and the periphery of the cam b cooperating to oscillate the lever b horizontally. The spring 6 extends from the end of lever Z7 in an upward and lateral direction, so as to hold both rolls b b in contact with their cams.

The mechanism thus far described is common and well known and of itself forms no part of my invention.

In carrying ,out my invention I make the bracket or support 19 to which the lever 19 is pivoted, vertically movable and provide means whereby the height of the support 19 is determined by the height of the presserfoot, so that when the presser-foot is bearing on work of minimum thickness interposed between it and the horn the support 11 will be depressed, and the presser-bar when lifted by the mechanism above described, after the formation of astitch, will start from adepressed starting-point; but when the presser-foot is bearing on thicker work the support will be correspondingly raised and the presser-bar when lifted will start from a higher startingpoint, the presser-foot being thus caused to rise the same distance above the upper surface of the work be the work thick or thin.

The mechanism employed by me to produce this result is, first, a quick-threaded vertical stud f, fitted in a correspondingly-threaded socket in a fixed arm f, said stud having an unthreaded'upper portion which is journaled in the base of the support I), Fig. 2, so that when the stud is rotated it will raise or lower said support, as the case may be; secondly, a bevel-pinion f affixed to the upper end of the stud f; thirdly, a lever f mounted to oscillate on the pivot 0 that connects lever 13 with support I), and provided with a rack-segment f meshing with the pinion f and, fourthly, a lever f, pivoted at f to an arm f which is pivoted at f to a fixed support and is normally pressed by a spring f so that the lever f bears yieldingly against a screw-head f on the lever 12 One arm of the lever f bears against one end of the segment f and its other arm is arrangedto be acted on bya cam f on a disk f, affixed to the shaft (1. The outer end of the lever f is located between screws f f, carried by the lever b The operation of the above-described mechanism is as follows: When the stock h, between the horn and presser-foot, is of average or ordinary thickness, the support 19 remains at its lowest point, so that the height of the pivot or fulcrum b on which the lever 12 0scillates, does not vary, and the presser-bar rises to the same height at each stroke. When the presser-foot bears on thicker stock, the end of the lever b engaged with the presserbar is held at a higher point, and the opposite end of the lever b is held at a correspondingly-lower point, so that the screw f on the lever 19 is caused to press the lever f downwardly into the path of the cam f When said cam reaches the lever f, it moves the latter, as indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1, thus causing it to move the segment f and lever f and rotate the screw f in the direction required to raise the support 12 so that the pivot or fulcrum b of the lever 12 is raised sufficiently to press its trundle-roll 1) against the cam 19 thus insuring the full stroke of the lever 19 and presser-bar b by the cam. Hence the throw of the presser-foot is always the same, but the starting-point of its upward movement Varies with the thickness of the stock, the distance which the presser-foot is raised above the upper surface of the work being the same in all cases without regard to the thickness of the work. When the thickness of the stock decreases, the end of the lever b carrying the screw f is depressed sufficiently to cause said screw to strike the lever f and thus move the segment in the opposite direction, thus rotating the screw f in the direction required to depress the support 6 so that the fulcrum of the lever 12 and the presser-foot are correspondingly depressed.

The needle-bar a is reciprocated bya camgroove a in a disk on the shaft dand a lever a mounted to oscillate on a pivot or fulcrum a and provided at one end with a trundleroll a engaged with the cam-groove a and at the other end with a slot a containing a sliding block a which is engaged With the needle-bar. The rotation of the cam or causes the lever a to oscillate and reciprocate the needle-bar.

An important feature of my invention is the variation of the limit of the upward throw of the needle-barby the position of the presserfoot when thelatter is bearing on the stock without varying the limit of the downward throw, so that while the needle always descends to,a given point to cooperate properly with the whirl and looper the extent of its upward movement depends on the thickness of the stock. pull oif an amount of thread for the next stitch directly proportioned to the thickness of the stock. In carrying out this part of my invention I mount the fulcrum a of the nee- Hence the needle is caused to die-lever a on a vertically-movable support a and provide mechanism connecting the needle-lever support a 'with the presser-barlever support the arrangement being such that at each upward movement of the support b the needle-lever support will be correspondingly raised, thus causing the needle in its upwardmovement to pull a correspondingly-increased amount of thread, the needle-lever support being returned, however, to its lowest or normal position at every downward movement of the needle, so that the limit of the said downward movement does not vary. The support a is engaged with a quick-thread screw 01, which works in a fixed internally-threaded socket 11, Fig. 2, and is provided with a pinion 2' meshing with a rack-segment i which is mounted to oscillate on the fulcrum a and is normally held bya spring 71 in position to keep the screw 2' turned down as far as it will go in the socket t", the support a and needle-lever fulcrum a being thus held at their lowest position. The segment i is provided with a shoulder 2 and the needle-lever a is provided with a pivoted dog i which is arranged to strike the shoulder 2' when the lever a is moving in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 unless it is prevented from striking said shoulder by a shield or cam i. A spring 1' presses the dog inward toward the shield or cam i Said cam is mounted to oscillate on the fulcrum a and is connected by a link 1; with the presser-bar-lever support I). The cam i is so formed and arranged that when the support 19 is in its normal or lowest position the cam will be held by the link 2' in the positionshown in Fig. 1, thus covering the shoulder t and preventing the dog i from striking and moving said shoulder, the cam being formed to throw the dog outwardly when it is moving toward the shoulder, so that it passes over the shoulder without moving it, as shown in Fig. 1. When the presser-lever support b is raised,

as above described, the link 2' moves thecam i backwardly, so as to expose more or less of the shoulder i, as shown in Fig. 3. Hence the dog i in moving, as indicated, and being pressed inwardly by the spring i strikes the shoulder and moves the segment "i thus rotating the screw 71 in the direction required to raise thesupport a and needlelev'er fulcrum a, this taking place while the needle-bar is rising, so that the upward movement of the needle is increased by the extent to which the fulcrum a is raised.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the height of the presser-foot when bearing on the stock not only determines the limit of the upward movement given to the presser-foot, but also the limit of the upward movement of the needle. The cam i is formed so that it throws out the dog i just before the end of the downward movement of the latter and while the needle is elevated, thus enabling the spring v to return the segmenti to its starting position and depress the needlelever fulcrum, so that the-limit of the downward movement of the needle will not be varied like that of the upward movement. Thelink 2' is adjustable in length, it being composed of two threaded end sections 2 2, one having a right and the other a left hand thread, and a connecting-section 3, internally threaded to engage said threads. The rotation of the section3 elongates or shortens the link, as the case may be. By thus varying the length of the linkI am enabled to vary the amount of thread pulled through the horn by the needle, the needle being caused to pull an increased amount of thread by lengthening the link, because the cam 2' is thereby moved so that it allows the pawl i to increase the movement of the segment. The object of thus varying the pull of the thread by the adjustment of the link {10 is to vary the point at which the stitch is set between the surfaces of the stock, so that the stitch may be set at any desired distance from either surface of the stock.

1. A wax-thread lock-stitch sewingmachine comprising a horn, a vertically and laterally movable combined feed and presser foot and its bar, mechanism for actuating said bar, including a vertically and horizontally oscillatory lever connected with the bar, a vertically-movable fulcrum for said lever, and mechanism controlled by the position of the presser-foot when the same is hearing on the stock, whereby the position of the ful crum is raised by an increase of the thickness of the stock and depressed by a decrease of the thickness of the stock, as set forth.

2. In a wax-thread lock-stitch sewing-machine, the combination with the feed presserfoot, its bar, the needle and the needle-bar, of a vertically and horizontally oscillatory foot-bar-operating lever, a vertically-movable fulcrum for said lever, mechanism controlled by the position of the foot to vary the position of said fulcrum, an oscillatory needlelever, a vertically-movable fulcrum for the same, and intermediate mechanism through which variations in the position of the footbar-lever fulcrum are caused to vary the position of the needle-lever fulcrum, as set forth.

3. In a wax-thread lock-stitch sewing-machine, the combination with the'presser-foot and presser-bar, of the presser-bar lever, a vertically-movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, a screw connected with said movable support and engaged With'a screwsocket in a fixed support,and mechanism substantially as described for actuating said presser-bar, including means whereby the screw is rotated to raise the fulcrum-support when the thickness of the stock under the presser-foot increases, and to depress the fulcrum-support when the thickness of the stock decreases, as set forth.

4. In a wax-thread lock-stitch sewing-machine, the combination with the presser-foot, presser-bar and presser-bar lever, of the Vertically-movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, the screw connected with said support and engaged with an internally-threaded fixed support, a gear-segment mounted to oscillate on the fulcrum-support and meshing with a pinion on the screw,an operating-shaft having a cam for operating the presser-bar lever andv another cam for operating said segment, an intermediate device such as lever f through which the last-mentioned cam acts to move the segment in one direction, and a lever affixed to said segment and arranged to be moved by the presser-bar lever to move the segment in the opposite direction, as set forth.

5. The combination of the presser-foot, the presser-bar, the presser-bar lever, the vertically movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, mechanism substantially as described for varying the position of said support with the thickness of the stock under the presserfoot, the needle-bar, its operating-lever, a vertically-movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, an adjusting-screw secured to said support and engaged with a fixed threaded socket, a gear-segment pivoted to the needie-lever support and engaged with a pinion on the said adjusting-screw, means such as a spring whereby said segment is normally held in position to depress the adjustingscrew, a device such as the dog i operated by the needle-lever whereby the adjustingscrew may 'be turned to raise the needle-lever fulcrum, a shield or cam and means for shifting the latter by variations in theposition of the presser-lever-fulcruln support whereby the raising of the needle-lever fulcrum is permitted when the presser-lever fulcrum is raised and prevented when the presser-lever fulcrum is depressed, as set forth.

6. The combination of the presser-foot, the presser-bar, the presser-bar lever, the vertically-movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, mechanism substantially as described for varying the position of said support with the thickness of the stock under the presserfoot, the needle-bar, its operating-lever, a vertically-movable support for the fulcrum of said lever, an adj usting-screw secured to said support and engaged with a fixed threaded socket, a gear-segment pivoted to the needlelever support and engaged with a pinion on the said adjusting-screw, means such as a spring wherebysaid segment is normally held in position to depress the adjusting-screw, a device such as the dog i operated by the needle-lever whereby the adjusting-screw may be turned to raise the needle-lever fulcrum, a shield or cam pivoted to the needle-lever support, and an adjustable link connecting said shield or cam with the presser-lever support, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. WILLEY.

Witnesses:

A. D. HARRISON, PETER W. PEZZETTI. 

